Freight-car.



S. TISu FREIGHT GAR.-

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Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

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S. OTIS. FREIGHT GAR. APPLICATION FILED APR. 15, 1907.

02,67., l Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

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unrrnn seres rra SPENCER OTIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TOv NATIONAL DUMP CAR COMPANY, A

CORPORATION 0F MAINE.

FREIGHT-CAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

Application filed April 15, 1907. Serial No. 368,415.

To all whom it mail concern.'

- Be it known tha Si, SPENCER Oris, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented ain new and useful Inirovenicixts in F eight-Cars, of which the lioliowif" is a specific My invention. relates in tf'eneral to railroad freight car" and more paaxicuiarly to a coinbined br id dump car.

Freigl used to haul in one direction freight i" i which a box car is best adapted must frequently on the return trip'haul material for which a manip car is rnost suitable. It is tlicref'cre desirable that freight cars should be capable of use either as box cars or dump cars.'i

@ne of .fr 1 objects ci my inventionis to provide. a ir ight. car which may be used either as a box wir as a dump oar, as occasion may reqs c, and which when used in either capacity may be easily loaded and unloaded.

t ot my invention is to procar which will have the requisite. structural strength to sustain a maximum load without the employment of the usual tension rods extending' beneath the longitudinal. car sills.

A further object oii'niy invention is to provide an iniuhoved dump car, which will be 'simple in construction, strong and durable in use, and efficient in operation..

The embodiment' oi my invention. herein disclosed. may be grcneraily described as consisting ol" a freight car, comprising tension.

ies of the car secured to t. nur, ncdiaie oitheir ends and e line' upwa y to the upright posts at the ends ci the car to which theyare secured, sliding doors having hinged sections, the lowes sections adapted to swing outwardly, sliding doors on the car rootl on opposite sides ci' the longitudinal center 'members ou the opi through which material may be loaded, trans- My invention will be more fully disclosed hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same is illustrated as embodied in a convenient and practical .the connection of one end of a tension ineinber with the car; Fig. 3, a detail perspective view of one oi the bottoni plates to which the tension members are secured; Fig. 4, a seic- 1tional view on line 4, 4, Fig; 3; Fig. 5, a plan view /oi the top of the'car, the left portion thereof being roken away; Fig. 6, an enlarged sectional view on line 6, 6, Fig. 5; Fig. 7 a sectional View on the line 7, 7, Fig. 6; Fig. 8, a sectional view on the line-8, 8, Fig.l 6; Fig. 9, an enlargedv sectional view on line 9, 9, Fig. 5; Fig. 10, an end elevational view, showing the shaft rotating means; Fig. 11, a sectional view on line 1.1, 11 Fig. 1, showing the bottoni door closed; Fig. 12, a View similar to F ig. 11, showing the door cien; Fig. 13,` a view similar to Fig. 12, snowing a modification; and Fig. 14, an en- 4larged detail sectional View on line 14, 14,

iinulai reference characters are used to designate similar parts in. the several 'ligures of the drawings.

Rei'erence letter A lndicates one of the 'longitudinal side sills oi a freight car, which is shown made of an angle bar.

B designates one of the upright posts at one end of the car upon the upper end of which is supported Vone end of *the roof beam C.

D indicates one of the corner braces, which unites one end of one of the side sills toI the lower end of the corresponding upright post.

E designates a corner brace for rigidly uniting the upright post B to the overlying roof beam C.

B indicates a second upright intermediate of the side sill vand roof beam, the lower end of which is rigidly secured to thel side sill by the brace plate D, while its upper end is rigidly secured to the roof beani by 'the brace plate E.

B2 designates a third upright post secured at its lower end by a brace plate D2 to the side sill and at its upper end by a braceplate E2 to the roof beam. In order to impart greater rigidity to the car structure, diagonal its braces b', b are interposed between the u right posts and are rigidly secured to t e corresponding brace plates E', D and E2.

F designates a plate rigidly secured to the side sill A intermediate of its ends and provided with an inwardly extending iiangc f overlying the top of the side sill. Rigidly secured to the side portions f and-f2 of the late .F are the lower ends of tension meiners F', F2, respectively. Each of these tension members extends upwardly and is secured. at its upper end to the corresponding brace plate .E in any suitable manner, as by means of a tubular socket c ony the brace plate through 'which the end of the tension member extends, a nut being secured to the end of the tension mernber projecting through, 'the socket. The tensionmember extends over a guide e upon the brace plate` E. in order to remove the slack from the tension 'members turn-buckles are provided.

G designates the roof of the carlwhich is rovided with the usual longitudinal plat rorni q at the center thereof upon which thetrainmen walk. Openings are rovided through the roof on o posite sides oL the longitudinal center, suc o enings being controlled by sliding doors Cil and G2. Each of the sliding doors is provided with inwardly extending ilanges g andgg2 beneath the edges thereof, which engage longitudinal guides H. and H2 secured to the car roof along the edges of the openings. In order to guide the root doors during their opening and closing movements short guides h and le. are secured to the car roof in alineinent with the guides lil. and H2.

Stops l1, are provided for limiting the closing movement of the doors.

In order that the car roof may be stron thened to compensate for Ithe weakening ei'ect oi `the door o enings thcretl'irough, avtransverse brace r is provided intermediate of each iair of door openings. Such braces may Je conveniently secured beneath the oar roof by end projections lc and k2. which are supported within hangers L and L2, depending from the central door guides H2112. The central door guides are, preferably, made oi' angle bars to which the hangers are secured by angle brackets l and Z2. lThe usual transverse rooi beams K. and l@ are provided on opposite sides o'i the door o}' enings.

Located beneath the bottom oi the car are longitudinal shafts M and. M2, such shafts being lor-.ated in alineinent, and a pair of' such valincd shafts being supported beneath the opposite sides of the car and adapted to control the opening and closing of downwardly swinging .iloor doors il', N2 and N, etc. .ln the car illustrating my invention twelve floor doors are provided, tlnee controlled by each section. oi the rotating shafts, but it will, of

, course, be understood that a greater' or less numbi-n ci such doors maybe provided as deslred. Each oi the tour shafts are the saine with the'corresponding pair of pinions.

' plate F.

in construction and in operation, and hence a description of one of them will be suihcient to disclose the construction and operation of all of them. The shaft M is providcd 'with three pairs ci inions m', m2 and m3, a pair of such pinions eing located beneath each of the doors. Each door `is provided with a pail' of rack bars, the teeth of whichv i'neh n Figs. 11 and 12, n2 indicates one of the rack bars beneath the door N 2 with which the pinion m2 meshes. The iloor doors are hinged attheir inner edges in any suitable manner, as by means of strap hinges n, located beneath. the rigid longitudinal center N of the car floor. V

Guides are rigidly secured beneath the ear for controlling the ath of movement of the shafts, such guides eing indicated by reierence characters P', P2 and P3. These guides are located intermediate of the doors, so as not to vinteriore with the movement of the doors to open position, shown in Fig. 12. The upper ends of the guides are'rigidly sccured to the outer ends of transverse bars A4, while their lower ends are rigidly secured to braces at, depending from the bars A4. The lower ends of the braces a* are rigidly con nected by transverse braces a3 to the bottom of the usual car center sill A3.

In order that the shafts may be rotated, the outer end of each one is )rovided with a ratchet wheel m with which a pawl o engages, such pawl being mounted upon a lever O mounted to oscillate with respect to the shaft. In' order that the shaft may be retained in the position to which it m'ay be rotated, while lever O is being returned to its initial position, a pawl 0 is loosely carried upon the shaft, which engages the teeth upon a ratchet P, such ratchet bar being secured. to and depending from the transverse endsill A of the car. s

R designates a side door lor the car which is suspended in the usual manner by means of hangers s from a track S. The lower section R of the door is connected by hinges r to the upper section so as to swing outwardly' A suitable fastening device, such as a bolt R2, is provided upon the bottom of the lower 'i' door section for retaining the door in its closed position.

r2 designates a keeper for the bolt lt, such keeper being conveniently secured to the Suitable fastening levices are prosol ii i) vided for preventing the upper section of the door from swinging outwardly, such fastening devices, being shown as hasps lr, r, projecting laterally and engaging staples secured to the door jambe.

a3, a3 designate transverse tension rods extending beneath the longitudinal center sill A.3 and secured at their ends to the side sills.`

The tension rod .beneaththe center' of the car may be conveniently secured to the side sills iso - tachirigl the bolt R from its keeper r2, whereupon t e pressnre ofthe material against the lower sectioi R' of the side door will force the same outwardly and plermit the material to be discharged from-'t e car. After the discharge of a suiiicient quantity of material the entire door may be ogened by slidin the same along the guide The materia may be readily loaded into the car, either through the side doors or through the doors inthe car roof, according to the character of the freight.

When the carl is usedl for transporting material whichv it is desired to dump, the doors in the floor of the car are ermitted to open by rotating the shafts su ciently to disengage them from the offset seats at the u er ends of the/guides, as indicated at p2 in lgs. 11 and 12, when the weight ofthe material will effect the complete downward opening of the doors. .When the load has' been dumped from the car, t-he floor doors may be closed by oscillating the levers O upon the ends of the respective shafts. Each oscillation 'of a lever O partially rotates the corresponding shafts and elevates the same t rough the engagement of the iinions thereon with the rack bars beneath t e corresponding doors.,Y the shaft being directed upwardly through engagement with the corresponding guides, as indicated at P2 in Figs. 11 and12. After an oscillation of the lever O the correspon ling shaft is held in the poobserved that I- ave invented an improved freight 'car which Aossesses great structural strength Without t e use of tension rods beneath the same, tension members being provided intermediate of the side sills and the upright posts, the tendency of the car to sag when loaded being thereby resisted through the trussed structure formed by the tension members, the upright posts, the side sills, and the roof beam.

It will be further observed that I have provided an improved freight car which may be used either as a box car or freight car, and

when used in either capacity may be readily loaded and unloaded.

VHaving now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a car provided with a side door opening, a side sill and aroof beam extending 'throughout the length 'of the car, upright posts -at and intermediate the ends of the car and extending between the side sill and roof beam, diagonal braces extending from the lower corners of the door opening to the tops of the adjacent upright posts, and a tension member com rising two rods each secured to one end o theroof beam and to the side sill adjacent the door opening.

2. In a car, a root` beam, a side sill, tie rods, 'each secured at one end to one end of the roof 'beam and at the other end "to the side sill, the points of connection between the tie rods and'side sill being spaced apart whereby a truss is formed having as its compression member the roof beam, and as its tension member said tie rods and the intermediate portion of the side sill. y

3.In a freight car, the combination with the side sills thereof, of upright posts at the ends of the side sills, plates rigidly secured. to the side sills intermediate of their ends, and tension members extending in opposite directions from the ends of said plates to the upright osts.

4. lh a freight car, the combination with the side sills thereof, of upright posts at the ends of the side sills, roof beams supported by the upright posts, corner-brackets rigidly connecting the rootl beam to the upright posts, and tension members on the opposite sides of the car connected at their ends to said corner brackets and to the side sills in termediate ol their ends;

5. In a freight car, the combination with the side sills thereof, of upright posts at the ends of the side sills, roof beams supported by the upright posts, corner brackets rigidly l connecting the roof beam to the posts, ten sion members on -the opposite sides ci the car connected at their ends to said corner brack ets and, to the side sills intermediate of their ends, and posts interposed between the side f sills and roof beams s aced apart from the ends of the car upon w lich-the tension members are guided.

' 6. In a frei ht car, the combination with the side sills t ereo, o posts at the oi' the side sills, plates rigidly secured to the side sills intermediate of their ends, tension^ members extending in opposite directions from the opposite ends of said plates to said posts, corner brackets rigidly connecting the posts with the roof beam, the ends of the tension members being secured to such brackets, posts interposed between the side sills and roof beam spaced apart from the ends of the cars, braces securing said latter postshto the roof beam, end'guidee upon said. letter bracesy for 4the tension members.

7. In a freight eer, the combination -with el. downwardly swinging-door in the'fioor in the bottom of the eer, of e longitudinal allait,

means for rotaiting said shaft, e pinion fixed upon said shaft, streek bei' xed uponftbe under surface of seid door with which seid pinion meshes, and guides secured beneath the eer for supporting seidl shaft and directing the same upwardly wlien'roteted to close said door.

v 8. In a. freight cer, the combination with e plurality of downwardly Swinging doorsin 4the bottom of the ear, of a longitudinal -shaft, means for .rotating seideheft, a pair oi pinions iiXed upon said shaft beneath eeon door,

\ n. pair of rock bars'ixed upon the under eur- \fece of each door meshing with the corre- 2`0 spending pair of pinions, and guides secured beneath the cer intermediate of the doors 'for supporting seid shaft and direeting the seine upwardly when rotated to close. the doors.

` 9. In e 'freight ear, the ooxnbinetion with e downwardly d,L eiwinging door in ,the bottom thereoifof a longitudinal sbeit, e pinion fixed u on seid shaft, "a rack ber engere i0. y InaJ freight eer, the combination with tbe rool' thereof, of a lon ritudinel sliding door eiosing en opening in tie roof, longitudinal guides located on the roof et eeen side of the door. openings, project-ione on the door engaging said gui es, and short 'uides spaced eport distances less than the ength of the door and located in eiinement with seid longitndinel guides.

11j In e ireight eer, the combination with the roof thereof, of 'doors closing openings through the roof :it eeen eide-of its lngituoinel center,.trens Verse roof bea-,ms supporping the roof 'at nach side o the door o enings, and e transverse brace extending eneetli. the roof intermediate off the door openings.

l2. In a. freight om', the combination with the roof thereof, of doors closing openings through the roof eeeli sideof its longitudinel cent proje'etione en the gagging seid the eentrel lo verse breoe er edffos o oi'l seid -doers endors, 'und e tiene the root 1ntermedieteV 'end su l 1 I?) ported et 1te in rigore.

in o, a :ze aoniprising as its compression if. neem und es tension 2i tite eide siii, .en 1 trol portion oi the eide .1, roei" neemrei portion oi finneoting vtile oen- 1 to the ende of the r, longitudinelguides for 'eeid doors,

depending from' 

